Modern Mining January 2025

SUPPLY CHAIN NEWS

KSB Pumps and Valves ready to support hydrogen economy As the world shifts towards cleaner energy sources Namibia and South Africa provide favourable conditions. Not surprisingly, two key projects are already in advanced stages of development in Namibia with the Hyphen Hydrogen Energy and Daures projects well underway. Global pumping solutions provider, KSB, has identified the vast potential of these types of projects in southern Africa and through its KSB Pumps and Valves subsidiaries in Namibia and South Africa is investing heavily in bringing the right skills to the region. KSB Pumps and Valves Namibia managing director, DeWet Van Wyk, adds that with its local manufacturing ability and access to global supply chains, KSB is well poised to support the scale of the hydrogen economy where entire regions need to be transformed. “ “Our pumps ensure the ultra-pure water New Maptek platform for automation and orchestration On the back of successful demonstrations at MINExpo International in Las Vegas in September, Maptek has announced that its Maptek Vestrex ecosystem for automation and orchestration is open for early access

KSB Pumps and Valves stands ready to support hydrogen economy.

significant investment in population amenities. The remote location of the hydrogen projects, particularly in sparsely populated areas like Lüderitz and the Northern Cape, necessitates the development of entire support ecosystems.” n integration, and accelerates decision making processes. Orchestration builds on computational power and automated workflows to unlock value from technical data and mining systems. Global Strategy Manager, James Mackenzie commented on the interest surrounding Vestrex during MINExpo. ‘Everyone we spoke to could immediately think of a way they could apply Vestrex to their organisation,’

used in electrolysis remains contaminant free, which is crucial for maintaining the integrity of the electrolysers. Additionally, we pressurise the hydrogen, making it easier and cheaper to transport it as ammonia. Beyond the technical infrastructure, these projects will require customers. Vestrex creates extraordinary value by making connections between diverse data sources without constraints of product, application, process or format. Data in the cloud encourages stakeholders across mining roles, teams and organisations to collaborate and explore new use cases for their technical data beyond traditional applications. Automation streamlines operations through real-time data and process

Mackenzie said. ‘Customers can expect effortless data transfer between cloud and desktop environments, with data managed securely from a centralised platform,’ Mackenzie added. ‘They will also be able to work with Maptek to orchestrate custom processes that handle their particular challenges.’ The new platform is based on three key pillars—data services, cloud computing and orchestration—sharing a common vision for solution integration and inter process workflows. n

The Maptek Vestrex ecosystem for automation and orchestration is open for early access customers.

62  MODERN MINING  www.modernminingmagazine.co.za | JANUARY 2025